Chapter 9

Lucas

“Stop looking at your watch,” Jules mumbles out of the side of her mouth as she leans toward me. “She’ll be here.”

“Yeah, I know,” I say as I glance around at all of the people mingling in Garrett’s house. We’re celebrating his birthday, which was really last month, but our schedule was such that there wasn’t a really good weekend to have the party. So it’s being held now, and while I’m still fairly new to the team, I’ve actually bonded quite well with Garrett. He’s so damn easygoing—like Max and me—that like sort of attracts like, I guess.

Stephanie insisted she meet us here, and I’m not dumb enough to miss the fact I’m sure she thinks that makes this less “datelike” in her mind. Which is fine. I respect her boundaries. I think they’re going to get blurred and confusing at some point, but I respect them.

On one side of the line, we are nothing more than friends who like to fuck. On the other side, we’re going to be co-parenting a child who was not planned. Something tells me that one or the other has to give, and I know it won’t be the child side, because that’s the most important.

Funny how drastically my life has changed in just three weeks, and while it was a complete and utter shock, I’ve actually done pretty good in accepting my fate. Kids were always a given with me. I want at least three, and preferably with a wife. I’ve had such an idyllic life with my family, and I want the same thing for myself.

But it’s not happening in the order I thought it would—because the wife would be first—and it’s happening a lot sooner than I had planned—by at least five years or so. I just turned twenty-seven, and Stephanie is twenty-eight. I hadn’t thought about having kids until I was in my thirties, because I honestly thought that was the prime of life.

Oh well. I am adaptable if anything.

Just then, I see the top of Stephanie’s red head walking through the crowd that extends from Garrett’s open kitchen into the adjacent living room. The two spaces are massive and can easily hold a hockey team—although not everyone came—and their guests.

She winds in and out and finally I see her face. She locks eyes with me and gives a tentative smile as she nervously tucks her hair behind her ear. That fucking amazing hair that looks good wrapped up in my fist. Just a mass of curls, all wild and untamed. Just like the way Stephy is in bed, and fuck if I don’t like that a lot.

“Hey,” she says as she walks toward Jules and me, her eyes going back and forth between us.

Max is off with Simone, making some introductory rounds. While he’s been a little more accommodating to her feelings about dropping out of school, I’ve not made any bones about the fact I think it’s the dumbest thing she’s done or ever will do in her life. Needless to say, she’s a little miffed at me right now, but I still want her to meet Stephanie when they come back around.

“Hey,” I say as I lift my chin. “Glad you could make it.”

It’s friendly.

No hugs or kisses on the cheek, which could violate the no-strings-sex boundary, which is sort of fucked up. I can lay her down and suck on her clit until she screams my name, but I can’t kiss her hello because that’s actually more intimate and makes more of a statement about a relationship.

Totally fucked-up reasoning, but we’re both going with it.

“Sorry I’m late,” she says as her eyes flit around the kitchen, where we’re standing near the food. “Forgot I had to get gas.”

“No worries,” Jules says. “I’m just glad you came, and I’m excited to talk some more about the nonprofit idea.”

“Me too,” Stephanie says as she moves closer to Jules, her smile wildly energetic and enthused.

It makes me smile to see her so fired up about something. I hate thinking she’s in a career that’s just satisfactory to her. I love my fucking career and it’s a big part of my happiness. I’d like to see Stephanie have that for herself, not only to compensate for those things she doesn’t have but so she can pass on to our kid that anything is possible if you want it bad enough.

“Do you want to get a plate of food and then go find someplace to sit?” I ask, jerking my thumb over my shoulder to the long counter spread with catered food. Garrett decided to go with an eastern North Carolina barbecue spread and I’m starving.

“Sounds good,” Jules says as Stephanie nods.

“Dude,” I hear from behind me as two large hands come down on my shoulders and squeeze me a few times. As I turn to look, the hands then pat me hard before retreating. My eyes make contact with Cash McCain, who just got called up from the minor leagues this week to fill in on the third line for one of our defenseman who has a hamstring pull. He’s twenty-one, energetic, and slightly annoying. I wonder if I acted like that at that age, and if I did, how I ever got laid.

“What’s up, man?” I ask as I give him a curt smile.

“This party is off the hook,” he says while swinging his arms outward in exaggeration.

I look around and wonder since when did gathering for barbecue and birthday cake constitute “off the hook,” but then he answers my question.

“I mean…I always wondered how you partied in the big league, and well…this is so stylish and elegant,” he gushes.

My eyes go back to the food. It’s in silver serving trays, so I guess that’s stylish.

“And whoa, who do we have here?” Cash drawls out as he pulls his chin in and eyes Jules and Stephanie up and down.

Kid’s not been here long enough to know Jules, so I make it a point to introduce her properly. “This is Jules, my soon-to-be sister-in-law.”

And then the dork of a defenseman actually impresses me a little. He gets super respectful and sticks a hand out to Jules. “Oh wow. Max talks about you all the time. Nice to finally meet you.”

This doesn’t surprise me. Max does talk about Jules all the time in an annoyingly cute kind of way.

But then Cash gets idiotic again when he pushes his hand out to Stephanie, who I can see by the expression on her face is thoroughly amused.

“I’m Cash McCain,” he says in a voice smooth as silk. “And you may be the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen.”

I try hard not to gag as Jules snorts beside me. Stephanie shakes his hand and even gives a tinkling laugh when Cash brings it up to his lips to kiss her knuckles. I suppress an eye roll because Cash is nowhere near Stephanie’s league, plus he’s way too young for her to even consider not only in age but in maturity.

“Dude,” I mock Cash’s earlier words with a hand to his shoulder and squeeze hard enough that he lets Stephanie’s hand go. “Your flirting is a little cheesy.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Stephanie teases with a mischievous smile. “It was pretty good to me.”

“Seriously?” I ask her with a cocked eyebrow. “That was good flirting?”

“All flirting’s good,” Stephanie points out.

“Yeah, no…cheesy flirting is not good,” I maintain.

“Dude,” Cash interjects. “I’m standing right here while you’re ruining my game.”

Jules snorts again, and this time, I squeeze down into Cash’s shoulder before giving him a “friendly” push away, but I make sure I give him a cordial-enough smile so he knows I’m joking.

Well…half joking.

“Get out of here, kid,” I tell him. “You’re out of your league.”

And because he’s a big goofy dork with a pretty good nature, he laughs and points a finger at me. “You’re the man, Lucas. Whatever you say, I roll with.”

All three of us watch Cash melt into the crowd, and then Jules says, “You see…that’s the way I sort of envisioned all professional athletes.”

“Young, dumb, and idiotic?” I ask.

Stephanie gives me a light punch on my arm. “Leave him alone. It was cute.”

We all laugh and then I turn toward the food, making a sweeping gesture with my hand. “After you, ladies.”

With food plates piled high, I lead the way through the crowd to the large outdoor screened-in deck at the back of Garrett’s house. There’s not as many people out here because it’s a little chilly, but he’s got two large outdoor heaters running so it’s bearable.

I spot Max and Simone at a table in the corner talking to Hawke and Vale. Hawke and Max are pretty tight and Vale is one of our trainers. They’re both cool in my opinion. As we approach the table, Simone’s gaze goes right to Stephanie, as I told her I was bringing a friend tonight. She of course thought a “friend” meant something more, and although technically it is more because there are benefits, I assured her this was nothing like that.

Which is thoroughly confusing even to me.

Hawke and Max immediately stand up and offer their chairs to Jules and Stephanie. The women get situated and the men hover behind them in a circular group.

I make introductions. “Simone, this is my friend Stephanie.”

They smile at each other and Simone says, “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Stephanie replies.

We all make idle chitchat for a while, but the conversation eventually turns to Stephanie’s idea about bringing kids into nursing homes. I think she’s a little embarrassed to have such a big crowd discussing this when she thought it would just be Jules and me, but by the smile on her face I know the fact that everyone has been enthusiastic about it means a lot to her.

As I watch her interacting with friends, family, and coworkers at this table, it again amazes me how outgoing Stephanie is. She has a huge personality coupled with such a funny wit, it’s hard to believe that is just her exterior shell. It’s hard to believe there’s a woman underneath who has been so deeply hurt by abandonment that chances are you’ll never get closer to her than her fun and engaging personality, which she uses as a brilliantly deceptive shield.

“I need to use the restroom,” Stephanie says as she rises from the chair.

“I’ll go with you,” Simone says, also pushing up from the table.

“Does anyone need anything?” Stephanie asks. After a chorus of nos, the women make their way back into the house.

“You know,” Jules says as she looks around the table but lets her gaze rest on me. “Stephanie’s got a really good idea, and to my knowledge there is no organization that provides something like that in this area. I hope she runs with this.”

“I hope so too,” I say, but I leave it at that. Not going to share with them that Stephanie is not only facing a potential job loss soon but she’s not going to take a risk on a new endeavor unless she’s absolutely prepared to do it on her own. I’ve learned at least that much about her, that she wants to do this independently outside of some advice we give her. On top of that, I think she might be little overwhelmed with the pregnancy, so her focus is naturally going to be on that.

“Are you going to be able to go to any of the play-off games?” Vale asks Jules, thereby effectively ending that subject and starting another.

The play-offs will begin in two weeks, in mid-April, and things are going to get all kinds of crazy. At least the travel schedule is more stable, since it follows best-of-seven series in a two, two, one, one, one format. That means the team with home-ice advantage alternates two games home, two games away, then home, away, and then home again. Thus we know the travel schedule is set, but that doesn’t lessen the tremendous stress the players will be under. Not only are we giving our all physically to every game, we’re straining our emotional and mental capacities as well. Every single professional hockey player I know lives and breathes for only one thing, and that’s to raise the Stanley Cup above their head. It’s within my reach and I can almost taste it.

“I’m going to work out some kind of schedule with Kate where we can travel alternating rounds while the other watches all the kids,” Jules tells her.

My neck twists to look in through the windows off the back deck and through the living room, and my eyes immediately catch on Stephanie’s flaming curls. Looks like she hasn’t made it to the bathroom because she’s been waylaid by Cash.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that Cash is heavily flirting with her. He’s leaning in close, and the expression on his face is carnal. I know he’s probably feeding her corny lines that would never work on a woman like Stephanie, but what I don’t like is the fact that she seems to be enjoying it. She smiles and laughs at him, sometimes flipping her hair over her shoulders. She also leans in toward him as he tells her an animated story with his hands. When she laughs at him a second time, she playfully touches his forearm for a second.

What the fuck? Is she into this kid?

I push up from my chair mumbling something about using the bathroom and make my way across the back deck and into the house. By the time I get to where Stephanie and Cash were standing, they’re both gone.

Simone walks by and I ask her, “Have you seen Stephanie?”

She indicates with a thumb over her shoulder, “Yeah. She just went into the bathroom.”

“Alone?” I demand.

Simone’s eyebrows rise but she quickly answers, “Of course alone. Why wouldn’t she be alone?”

I shake my head as I brush past my sister toward the bathroom, instantly relieved that she and Cash aren’t getting physical with each other in Garrett’s guest bathroom, and even as I appreciate the relief, I know that was stupid to even think that would happen. If it did, though, I do believe I’d have to kill Cash.

Leaning up against the wall, I wait for Stephanie to come out. When she does she blinks at me in surprise but gives me a welcoming smile. “Hey, you.”

“What’s up with all the flirting?” I ask, then I immediately regret the words. I absolutely did not need to confront her with that because I have no right to.

Stephanie’s expression darkens. “What do you mean?”

“It just seems to me that you and Cash were getting awful cozy together,” I tell her with a nonchalant shrug.

“We were just talking,” Stephanie says with her lips quirked up, and I can tell she is thoroughly amused with me. “He’s a funny guy.”

“Don’t look at me like that,” I snap at her.

She stifles a laugh then asks me, “Look at you like what?”

“That you think I’m jealous and you find it completely hilarious,” I tell her with my chin lifted.

“Are you?” she asks me with mischief written all over her face.

“Absolutely not,” I say with a casual smile. “No strings between us, right?”

“That’s right,” she says with a slightly teasing tone, but I can also see in her eyes that there is no room for jealousy.

That sort of irritates me. We may have a firm friends-with-benefits agreement, but I thought we had been pretty clear that this was exclusive.

“So you mean to tell me,” I ask her as I lean in and murmur, “you would not be bothered if I flirt with other women in your presence?”

Stephanie swallows hard but her jaw stiffens with resolve. “That’s right.”

“Huh?” I say, sounding genuinely interested in this concept. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Then I push past her into the bathroom with a satisfied smile on my face over the look of surprise and perhaps a little anger on hers.

Let her chew on that for a while.